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This research captures early childhood educators' (ECEs') perspectives when communicating with families about their children's diverse gender expression. Since families and ECEs play a pivotal role in shaping young children's understandings of gender it is necessary to learn more about ECEs' communications with families. The data that informs this paper is derived from a qualitative research study that used semi-structured focus groups with 15 ECEs who work with young children, ages 3-5 years, at licensed early childhood centres in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ECEs were invited to participate in two focus group sessions to discuss their experiences after recalling conversations with families whose children identify outside the traditional constructs of masculine boy/feminine girl. One central finding the ECEs observe is the displeasure fathers have when their sons engage in feminine interests, including the affective actions the fathers then take to remove stereotypically feminine coded activities from their sons' lives. This research highlights the need for ongoing early childhood education training on gender diversity to better support non-binary, transgender children, and children from 2SLGBTQIA+ families.

Amid increased concerns about mental health, sexual violence, and substance use among college students, college campuses are looking toward developing targeted programming to help counteract these concerning trends. This practitioner paper highlights the development and impacts of a program at a Canadian institution, which focuses on healthy masculinity and identity development. Although still in the early stages, the feedback and observations are indicative of the powerful potential of this type of programming to improve healthy masculinity on college campuses.

The purpose of this article is to examine how the discourse of childhood innocence masks the ways in which sexual violence by boys against girls is perpetrated in kindergarten. Findings from a year-long ethnographic study conducted in two Canadian kindergarten classrooms show that narrow understandings of gender and sexuality in childhood obscure schools' responses to problematic gendered behaviors enacted by certain boys. The author contends that in failing to attend to gender and sexuality with young children, kindergarten education may contribute profoundly to the early normalization of sexual violence. The article concludes with a discussion on the role that kindergarten education can play in countering sexual violence inside and outside of schools.

Despite decades of research and education, sexual and gender-based violence remain distressingly prevalent on university and college campuses globally. The taboos associated with sex, gender inequity, and living in a patriarchal world where misogyny is glorified and criminalised are key socio-cultural determinants driving these forms of violence. Less is known about the ways in which sexual slang or terminology impact how students experience and talk about these events. This paper reports on findings from a participatory action study that explored sexual slang use among female and male undergraduate students (n = 23) with the aim of creating more responsive sexual and gender-based violence policies and practices. The terms identified (n = 59) provide a window into the daily lives of these young people, who display remarkable socio-linguistic adaptation and creativity. They also demonstrate how cultural appropriation, the exclusion of queer students, toxic masculinity contribute to ongoing incidents of sexual and gender-based violence on campus. These findings contribute new insights into sexual terminology among post-secondary students, particularly in the Canadian context where few studies of this nature exist. They also acknowledge the critical role universities can play in making meaningful structural change to prevent traumatic events from occurring.

North American feminist scholarship on violence against women (VAW) focuses primarily on gendered-based violence and does not substantively incorporate intersectionality. In this paper, I offer a comparative analysis of Canadian Indigenous and White middle-class adolescent girls' narratives of toxic masculinity, rape culture and sexual violence. I use VAW research, Indigenous feminist theory and girlhood studies to focus on the following: (1) the 'boys will be boys' discourse, (2) the feminist critique of the stranger danger discourse and (3) the surveillance of girls. I analyze focus group data with girls (aged 13-19 years). I am interested in how girls both accept and resist the status quo in their day-to-day negotiations with family, peers, schools and public spaces.

Background: Scholarship has demonstrated the influence of hegemonic masculine norms on values and practices in outdoor adventure education. However, recent publications indicate that men outdoor leaders may be increasingly aware of gender biases and consequently changing their practice. To date, few publications have considered men outdoor leaders' understanding of masculinity in the field and how it affects their practice and professional interactions. Purpose: This study critically examined multiple aspects of gender relations from men outdoor leaders' perspectives to determine if observed changes in some men's practice signal changes toward a more equitable understanding of masculinity or merely a pivot to maintain the status quo. Methodology/Approach: A single-embedded case study methodology was employed. Interview, observation, and artifact data were collected from 18 men outdoor adventure education leaders across the United States and Canada. Findings/Conclusions: Participants noted awareness of gender inequity and articulated some strategies employed to combat sexism, particularly those associated with gendered student expectations. However, multiple participants also demonstrated gendered blind spots and supported gender hierarchy. Implications: Participants' demonstrated awareness of gender issues, but the considerable blind spots identified in the data indicate a troubling lack of critical self-reflection and provide support for dominant hybrid masculinity.

The study explores the pedagogical practices employed by ballet instructors for engaging boys in ballet. Inclusive practices for gender non-conforming children in ballet are also considered. Four ballet instructors shared their experiences in semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate that male-focused strategies in both recruitment and pedagogy are prevalent in the field. Participants noted the need for parents to be open to ballet for all genders of children, to value their child's gender expression, and to support the implementation of inclusive studio practices. Recommendations are made for teachers and studios regarding the implementation of gender-inclusive practices and the establishment of welcoming environments for all students.

This case study traces the initial investigations in developing a culturally responsive intervention in museum education and curation entitled Elusive Desires. I explore the ways in which curatorial and pedagogical work in an art museum may disrupt traditionally held notions of "Canadian art," the archive, and belonging. Embracing an intersectional approach, I take on a queer feminist Asian diasporic lens to thinking through all aspects of the curatorial intervention, from the participating artists and the educational outreach to the community and school groups. I argue that taking on such a lens enacts curating and museum education as a social intervention that counteracts anti-Asian racism, toxic heterosexual masculinity, and settler-colonial logics that are frighteningly prevalent today.

With the exponential advancement of technology, global sharing, industrialization and economic development, national and global cultures are becoming more collective. More importantly, this fundamental paradigm shift is affecting national and global educational leadership cultures. Therefore, the power/distance index (PDI); individualism versus collectivism (IDV); uncertainty avoidance index (UAI); masculinity/femininity (MAS); and long-term orientation versus short-term orientation (LTO); are of interest when considering national and global cultures. These cultural dimensions can be exemplified in the responses of eight female educational leaders: three Canadians and one from Jamaica and Trinidad; two Grenadians and one Lebanese. This qualitative methodology in the form of a phenomenological study found that all respondents displayed varying degrees of each aspect of Hofstede's five cultural dimensions which can be charted along a continuum from high to low index factors. Each dimension is linked to different leadership styles. PDI is linked to servant leadership, IDV is linked to shared/participatory leadership, UAI is linked to transformational leadership and emergent leadership, and MAS is linked to people versus task-oriented leadership. In each case, the slight variances in responses reflect the microcosm of the macrocosm where each country's particular culture is mirrored. Recommendations are made for a more androgynous leadership style as well as more androgynous socialization processes if national and global educational leadership cultures are to become less gendered and more instrumental and functional based on the demands of the particular environment. It is expected that a focus could be placed on transcultural rather than intercultural studies in leadership and education.

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the discursive foundations of entrepreneurial identity for women in Canada by examining the social positions, representations and spaces they take in introductory business textbooks. We ask three questions: (1) What issues of power and discourses related to gender are subsumed in Canadian textbooks? (2) In what way is gender represented in texts of entrepreneurship in Canadian management education? (3) How are women portrayed in entrepreneurship texts? The data that we draw upon comes from 13 Canadian management textbooks that have been used in introductory business courses to teach students about the functions of business. By narrowing in on content in entrepreneurship education, we use poststructural feminism as a lens to interrogate gendered discourses that influence what and how students are taught about the ideals of entrepreneurship in undergraduate business programs in Canada. Our findings suggest that the entrepreneurship texts studied were overly gendered in masculine terms, serving to privilege the experience of male business while simultaneously marginalizing the representation of women entrepreneurs. We argue that marginalizing women in textbooks may form barriers to their interest and participation in entrepreneurial pursuits, and thereby call on scholars and practitioners to reconsider the importance of equality in materials used in the classroom.

Physics- and computer-related disciplines are strongly male dominated in Western higher education. Feminist research has demonstrated how this can be understood as reflecting a strong privileging of mind and rationality (over body/nature/emotions) in these disciplines, which harmonises with broader notions of masculinity as transcendental and disembodied. However, as we demonstrate in this paper, being recognised as legitimate in these fields is also tightly connected to embodiment. Drawing on post-structural gender theory, we explore how notions of corporeality, style and aesthetics are articulated within computer engineering and physics settings at two higher education institutions, one in Canada, one in Sweden. Using empirical data from two case studies, we demonstrate that these disciplines are usually understood as 'gender neutral' by students but that interest and competence in these fields are simultaneously understood as embodied through neglect for style and corporeal aesthetics, in ways that contribute to the masculinisation of these fields.

This study investigated the longitudinal relations between theory of mind (ToM) understanding, self-perceptions, and perceptions of gender-role orientation in 28 school-aged children, (16 girls, 12 boys, aged 8-12 years). Theory of mind and perceptions of self were assessed at Time 1 (T1, M = 8 y 5 m) and two years later at Time 2 (T2, M = 10 y 4 m). Negative correlation was found between T1 ToM and T2 Perceptions of Moral Self (r = -0.55, p = 0.004). Positive correlations were found between T1 Perceived Masculinity and T1 ToM (r = 0.682, p = 0.015). No relations were found between ToM T1 and T2 (r = 0.281, ns), as well as between T1 and T2 Self- Understanding scores (r = 0.244, ns). Positive relations were found between self-understanding and ToM at T1 only (r = 0.394, p = 0.038). Implications for children's socioemotional development are discussed.

This article discusses a feminist discourse analysis that explores the ways in which discourses of learning interact with discourses of militarism at four Canadian civilian universities named for military leaders. I discuss how this particular research topic became apparent to me and explore the current national context where it can be argued that Canada is exchanging an identity of a peace-making country for one of war-making. I examine literature that connects education with militarism, taking a feminist anti-militarist approach, and discuss issues relating to academic freedom in critiquing one's own institution. I explain my methodology and detail my findings, concluding that educators should continue to contest gendered militarism in higher education and society.

To help a group of nine adolescent boys with behavioural needs improve their social-emotional skills, the researcher designed and conducted a longitudinal intervention at a public secondary school in British Columbia. In order to complete this task, the researcher drew on the various strengths of action research, lesson study and learning study. Together their distinct attributes acted as an organizational framework and were seen to provide an effective and robust approach to school-based research. The action research component of the study ensured that the intervention had a deep understanding of the problems facing male students with behavioural needs, that stakeholders' voices were considered in the research and that the personal role of the researcher was acknowledged. Learning study established positive masculinity as the intervention's primary object of learning; and it helped influence the content and approach of individual sessions. Finally, lesson study's fluid and collaborative approach to assessment allowed for ongoing guidance and a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the study's results. Although there are similarities between action research, learning and lesson studies, the research discussed in this article demonstrates the efficacy and benefit in allowing their distinctive strengths to be used in conjunction for a longitudinal intervention.

In postmodern scholarship there has been a temporal shift to thinking of the body as malleable rather than fixed, which has opened space for the remaking of the self via the remaking of the body (Featherstone, 1991; Giddens, 1991). Among men, this process is thought to interact with shifting understandings of masculinity. In this study, 14 interviews were conducted to investigate experiences of masculinity, physical appearance and cosmetic surgery among Canadian men who had undergone or were contemplating cosmetic surgery. Responses suggest that bodily presentations and experiences of masculinity continue to influence how people feel about themselves and their perspective toward cosmetic surgery. Findings are discussed in relation to contemporary constructions of masculinity, body, and identity. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 1 footnote.)

This study examined the effects of the gender of reading tutors on 173 third and fourth grade mainly inner-city boys identified as struggling readers. Reading achievement ("Alberta Diagnostic Reading Program") and reader self-perceptions ("Readers' Self-Perception Scale") were monitored over a 22-week reading intervention. Findings indicated that the gender of the reading tutors had no effect on reader self-perceptions in boys who viewed reading as masculine or gender neutral; boys who viewed reading as feminine responded better to female tutors than to male tutors in developing their self-perceptions as readers. The gender of the tutor had no significant effect on boys' reading achievement in either group. (Contains 2 tables and 1 footnote.)

This article shares three vignettes, drawn from the life experience of its authors and five years of research at two schools, to illustrate the "choice" many males are forced to make between normalized "masculine" indifference and a stigmatized caring relationship with the natural world. We suggest this dissociation results, for some, in a kind of eco-double consciousness. The first vignette draws on memories from a male author encountering typical threats of violence for continuing to "proclaim" care for forested places. The second describes a cis male child who at the age of eight dubs himself "eco-boy," but by 10, is resigned to hiding his ethic of care in order to fit in with other boys. The last vignette examines an instance between two six-year-old cis boys, a female researcher, and several ants. We suggest shirking from the significance of these commonplace experiences with the adage "boys will be boys" is an excusatory move and that educators ought to be aware and address gendered expressions of power, violence, and care at a young age when the necessity for an eco-double consciousness first emerges. The conclusion emphasizes the need for educators to trouble masculine norms by finding ways to respond to the normalization of ecological violence, to keep open the possibility of developing eco-care in young males, and to trouble the notion of "boys being boys."

Recent research has documented the persistence of unequal gender relations and homophobia in young people's lives. Feminist post-structural theories of gender and socio-cultural theories of learning suggest educators need to understand students' constructions of gender relations, masculine/feminine desires, and sexuality if they hope to challenge these behaviors. In this article, we examine a diverse group of 47 preteens' constructions of gender relations, masculine/feminine desires, and sexuality, using a survey, a story from the popular comic "Archie", and individual interviews. We found that although participants produced feminist and patriarchal constructions of gender relations, they constructed masculine and feminine sexuality as uniformly heterosexual. [Abstract provided in both English and French.]

This article, by drawing on data collected from qualitative case-study research, raises questions about discourses that claim male teachers are better equipped to improve boys' literacy achievement on the basis of gender affiliation. It reports on interview and observational data collected from a number of boys attending five different secondary-schools in Ontario, Canada. It strategically draws on Connell's critical masculinities theoretical perspective and Foucault's analytic framework for power/knowledge, subjectivity and discourse, as a basis for producing a more nuanced understanding of commonly-accepted beliefs about the potential influence of male teachers to improve boys' engagement and achievement as literacy learners. This research found that only four of the 29 boys who participated in this study understand the gender of their teachers to be a critical factor for their engagement and achievement. Their narratives draw attention, not only to the complex and multiple factors influencing engagement and achievement, but also to the way in which power/knowledge and gender regimes influence their articulation of teacher influence. The findings of this research suggest that building more nuanced theories about teacher influence that move beyond so-called "common-sense" assumptions about role modeling and gender affiliation is critical if effective school reforms to address boys' literacy achievement are to be implemented.

Recently, the authors have been collecting data for a research project that explores secondary school boys' perceptions of masculinity. They spent a week in Leigh's grade 11 philosophy class discussing gender while observing and video recording students' perception for analysis. In their research, they used Colour Blind as a vehicle for unearthing students' perceptions about masculinity. Colour Blind is a group initiative task that involves a blindfold for each participant and a structured array of coloured shapes. After completing the blindfolded problem-solving task, their group was able to make a list of typically masculine leadership strategies. The authors propose that, as time goes by, the Colour Blind experience may help these students to name and challenge dominant gender norms that would otherwise go unquestioned. The initiative can also be used as an innovative experiential approach for exploring concrete or abstract concepts across the Ontario K-12 curriculum.

This article analyzes masculinity and experimental practices within three different physics communities. This work is premised on the understanding that the discipline of physics is not only dominated by men, but also is laden with masculine connotations on a symbolical level, and that this limited and limiting construction of physics has made it difficult for many women to find a place in the discipline. Consequently, we argue that in order to further the understanding of gender dynamics within physics communities and enrich the current understandings about the lack of women in physics, perspectives from masculinity studies are crucial. The article draws on three different ethnographic case studies dealing with undergraduate students, graduate students, and research scientists. [This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.]

Everyday cultural resources that originate outside school offer possibilities for multimodal creativity and identity play, as children consume, transform and produce multimodal texts. In this study, Kyle, a boy in elementary school, fluidly performed social identities and engaged in playful and parodic rescripting of identities and resources from everyday culture, such as professional wrestling and rap music. In this paper, I posit that (1) Kyle and his family understood and experienced professional wrestling in contradictory ways as both taboo and appealing, (2) Kyle's deep knowledge of the genre of professional wrestling as performative text allowed him to use it in playful and parodic ways, (3) this playful approach to wrestling and other masculine identities, made available through Kyle's culture, constitutes a form of improvisation and can be explained as a form of masculine melodrama and (4) the role of audiences is key in the reflexive performance of masculine identities.

This article explores the ways in which military constructions of gender intersect with academic ones. Its focus is to connect military discourses of duty, honour and service before self with academic ones of commitment and productivity. As such, it engages in an institutional analysis of the gendered organizations of the military and academia and the associated implications for lifelong learning and education. First, I discuss how, despite resistance from countless educators, corporatism and militarism have come to influence many forms of lifelong learning and higher education. Then, I detail the ways in which both the military and academia, with their unique purposes, are gendered organizations, requiring inordinate dedication and commitment to institutional ends. Finally, I conclude that educators must continue to recognize, problematize and challenge gendered discourses that privilege militarism in higher and lifelong education.

Allison Gonsalves' article on "women doctoral students' positioning around discourses of gender and competence in physics" explores narratives of Canadian women physicists concerning their strategies to gain recognition as physicists. In my response to her rewarding and inspiring analysis I will reflect on her findings and arguments and put them into a broader context of research in gender and physics. In addition to her promising strategies to make physics attractive and welcoming to all genders I want to stress two more aspects of the tricky problem: diversity and contextuality of physics.

Research on fraternity men focuses almost exclusively on problematic behaviors such as homophobia and sexism, alcohol abuse, violence against women, sexual promiscuity, and the overrepresentation of members among campus judicial offenders. Consequently, little is known about those who perform masculinities in healthy and productive ways. Presented in this article are findings from a qualitative study of productive masculinities and behaviors among 50 undergraduate fraternity men from 44 chapters across the US and Canada. Findings offer insights into participants' steadfast commitments to the fraternity's espoused values; their acceptance and appreciation of members from a range of diverse backgrounds; strategies they employed to address bad behaviors (including sexism, racism, and homophobia) among chapter brothers; and the conditions that enabled them to behave in ways that contradict stereotypes concerning men in collegiate fraternities.

Given the varied nature of resource dependent communities, the gendered experiences of women and men may vary in unexpected and contradictory ways. Building on a review and critique of existing theoretical approaches and studies of US and Canadian extractive resource communities in both the feminist and rural social science literature, we provide an analytical approach to engage with gender in the context of these dramatic changes. Our framework, which integrates key insights from recent feminist theorizing, summarizes emergent constructions of masculinity and femininity in a given context by emphasizing the possible contradictions along three broad lines: material, material-discursive, and discursive. (Contains 1 table.)

From 1966 to 1972, Flintridge Elementary school located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada implemented a short lived gender reform plan to help raise boys' achievement. Shaped by a variety of complex historical factors and fuelled by a desire for innovation, educators from Flintridge Elementary sought to address the educational needs of primary school boys by establishing single-sex classrooms, hiring more male teachers, and developing a more "masculinised" curriculum. Drawing on articles from the popular media, scholarly journals, annual school board reports, and face-to-face interviews with 10 educators directly involved in the gender reform, this small scale study reveals the potential difficulties and consequences that arise when boy-only settings are implemented in schools as a way to address the educational needs of boys. This suggests the need for today's educators to move beyond outdated, simplistic approaches such as boy-only arrangements in addressing the educational needs of boys, in order to help boys not only achieve academically but, more broadly, to lead more fulfilling and just lives.

This study reports on a qualitative analysis of data from interviews with 15 heterosexual males ages 16-18 in Canadian high schools. Findings indicate that gay male youth often occupy lower status positions in the school's social hierarchy. Heterosexual males did not typically want to associate with gay male peers for fear of being perceived as gay and being "hit on." Verbal harassment against lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth was common and reportedly not dealt with by teachers. The phrase "that's so gay" was synonymous with the terms "stupid" or "lame." Dissenting views on homosexuality and popularity are also presented. Findings are discussed in relation to Connell's theory of masculinity.

This study examines the role of sex, gender role orientation, social representations of indirect aggression, and indicators of psychosocial adjustment in indirect aggression and victimization in an emerging adult sample. A total of 42 participants (19 men, 23 women) recruited are required to complete the questionnaires, along with 18 participants out of the total study sample also completing daily journals. No sex differences are found for either indirect aggression or victimization. Indirect victimization is found to be the most significant predictor of indirect aggression. When controlling for indirect aggression, mania is the most significant predictor of indirect victimization. An inductive thematic analysis of the journals is conducted. The results are interpreted in relation to previous research and theory. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure and 1 note.)

Disturbed by a proliferation of quick-fix literacy strategies to "help the boys" increase achievement levels in the midst of a policy shift that acknowledges gay, lesbian, bi and transgender, questioning (GLBTQ) youth, the author examines how masculinities are connected to literacy practices and negotiated through a safe school policy. He argues that specific literacy strategies recommended in recent support documents for teachers are limiting and restrictive because of a narrow view connecting gender and masculinity to literacy practices that reinscribe heteronormative masculinity in schools. He further argues that strategies to increase literacy achievement levels among boys run contrary to a more embracing school board policy aimed at acknowledging diverse multiple youth identities.

This study investigated whether peer victimization and gender nonconformity are connected for both pre- and early adolescent boys and girls. 462 predominantly white, middle-class students from Grade 5-9 provided self-reports of victimization (physical, verbal, and relational) and gender nonconformity, as well as peer nominations of gender nonconformity and victimization. Multiple regression analyses showed that for both boys and girls peer-reported gender nonconformity was uniquely predictive of peer-reported victimization. The relationship between peer- and self-reported gender nonconformity and physical and relational victimization was moderated by sex, however, in reverse patterns. The association between gender nonconformity and peer victimization varied as a function of the type of victimization being experienced (physical, verbal, relational) and the source of ratings of victimization and gender nonconformity (self or peers).

In September 2001, three white men from Tisdale Saskatchewan sexually assaulted a 12-year-old Saulteaux girl from the Yellow Quill First Nations. At the time, this Reserve was known for having what was called "the worst water in Canada," while nearby Tisdale still advertises itself as the land of "sparkling waters" and the land of "rape and honey." This paper, inspired by the work of William Pinar on race and violence, uses Pierre Bourdieu's (1993; 2001) sociological constructs of masculine domination and Lacan's view of patriarchy, builds on Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's understanding of homosociality, and extends the work of Sherene Razack on race, space, and the law. The author interrogates this Tisdale group sexual assault as the ultimate act of white heterosexual privilege, compares it to the gang killing the same year of a gay man, Aaron Webster, and sees in both events signs of internalized homoerotic panic that offer insights into how white masculinity is built on race, sex, and gender on the Canadian landscape. (Contains 9 notes.)

Our paper illustrates how males of Chinese descent in British Columbia (BC) have historically been victims of overt and subtle forms of discrimination, and describes how racism is and was integrally linked to notions of class, gender and the body. Highlighted in our historical overview are issues around race and masculinity for Chinese males as they existed (and still exist) in the BC educational system, especially in sport-related and physical education (PE) contexts. We examine how some of these issues continue to impact Vancouver's schools through Millington's (2006) study of masculinities in secondary PE which showed how that environment, while offering the potential for various masculinities to flourish, tended to promote hegemonic gender identities as "normal". In particular, we show how Chinese-Canadian boys, both Canadian born as well as more recent immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, continue to be subject to subtle racist understandings of Chinese masculinities--understandings that are often camouflaged by the dominant national rhetoric of multiculturalism. We conclude the paper by arguing that if indeed schools' curricula exacerbate problematic understandings of race and masculinity that underlie discriminatory behaviours and attitudes, then physical educators need the tools to develop strategies for change. (Contains 14 notes.)

This study is a qualitative autoethnographical narrative of my grades 1 through 12 experiences in a Catholic school system in Alberta. Autoethnographical research interprets a culture by producing highly personalized and revealing texts; it examines social phenomena holistically and underscores how social histories influence identity development. To this end, this study brings clarity and understanding to the complex web of multiple societal forces in life that are located in schools (e.g., educational policy, hegemonic masculinity and femininity, play and recreation, family history, family health problems, youth identity development, popular culture, care theory, socioeconomic status, extracurricular school clubs) and in making difficult decisions related to improving the ecology of schooling.

This study presents the perspective of vulnerable Canadian (Quebecker) adolescents defined as such on account of their numerous experiences with potential or actual fatherhood or exposure to sexually transmitted infection. The interviews allowed youth to talk about their experiences with paternity, their sex lives and their views on sex education. The recurrent themes in their accounts were: (1) a felt inability to face fatherhood; (2) sexual expression (heterosexual) as a means of establishing masculinity; (3) resistance towards condom use; (4) idealized yet difficult love relationships; and (5) a need for dynamic sex education that covers love and eroticism. Based on these analyses, guidelines for sex education are proposed. (Contains 2 tables.)

Information technology (IT) has been characterized as central to globalization and nation-states' competitive edge in the global economy. A highly masculinized field, IT is paradoxically characterized as gender-neutral, a field which expands opportunities for women's career and income development. For these reasons, feminist researchers regard it as an interesting context in which to explore contemporary issues of gender, learning and work. Based in Canada, our study broadens the scope of the literature in this area, extending the conceptualization of the IT field beyond its central occupations such as computer programming, software engineering and network administration, to niches such as technical communication, project and operations management and even librarianship and secretarial jobs. In this article, we focus on how gender has shaped the learning pathways and the politics of recognition experienced and articulated by women working across the IT field. We have purposefully gathered work and learning histories of women without formal IT credentials. Their stories offer an important counter-narrative to the neo-liberal discourse of equality and re-insert informal learning into the mainstream discourse of lifelong learning. (Contains 6 notes.)

This paper takes up the concern that sexual health programs targeting adolescents may actually increase HIV risk among youth by reinforcing dominant versions of masculinity that portray males as sexually irresponsible and unconcerned about their health. If a key aim in HIV prevention education is a renegotiation of high-risk behavioral norms, an important consideration is the ways young people resist stereotypical gender norms that can lead to risky sexual practices. From this perspective, opening up spaces for the expression of counter-hegemonic masculinities may be an important health prevention strategy. In a study conducted in three urban Toronto high schools, we explore the ways students in mixed-sex groups supported or challenged dominant discourses of masculinity expressed through three themes: notions of male sexuality as unrestrained and unrestrainable; narrow definitions of sex; and concepts of "risk" and resistance to condom use. We argue that designing HIV prevention programs that "begin" with the exploration of alternative masculinities may be one way to fashion a framework for gender relations that can offer youth more effective prevention strategies. (Contains 3 notes.)

This paper examines the interplay between gender and sexuality. In particular, it looks at some reasons why mainstream society cannot bear homosexuality, or any expression of resistance to heteronormativity. The paper also considers what makes schools particularly hostile to teaching or tolerating deviance from set notions of essentialized and normative sexuality. (Contains 9 notes.)

The study on which this paper is based examined the experiences of students in order to develop a theoretical and empirically grounded account of the dynamic social forces of inclusion and exclusion experienced by youth in their unique contexts of North American urban schooling. The ethnographic scenes, organized into four "beats," theatrically render the cultural performances of youth and researchers in the context of a diverse urban drama classroom. In this classroom, students, teacher, and researchers engage in a lively and often disturbing debate. Questions about the ways in which sexuality and other identity markers are socially constructed and performed, how the moral, gendered and discoursed cultures created in classrooms re-inscribe historical inequities are central to the ethnographic scenes, drawn from field notes, researcher reflections, interview transcripts, and the epilogue which follows. Aspects of youth culture, performance (cultural and artistic), the construction of identities--particularly in relation to theories of masculinity and the (heterosexual) "pass"--are deconstructed in the epilogue. (Contains 5 notes.)

This paper explores recent Ontario policy directives aimed at improving literacy levels among boys in addition to the perspectives underlying these policies. By drawing on the school experiences of four high school young men, the authors examine how boys read and misread masculinities through socially literate practices. This paper argues that these kinds of reading practices routinely inform how boys think about social identities, literacy and schooling more generally. The paper concludes by arguing that the textual practices involved when high school boys read the bodily texts of their male peers are useful entry points for opening a dialogue that highlights how and what boys can read in a particular context.

In April 2002 Judith Halberstam, academic, cultural critic and author of "Female Masculinity", toured Australia giving public and academic lectures about her recent work on sub-cultures, the Brandon Teena archive, representations of the transgender body and her notion of female masculinity. The interview is introduced through a brief sketch of her argument for female masculinity. The interview pursues three elements of her work. First, Halberstam's reflections on the implications that female masculinity and transgender have for teaching and pedagogy; second, the issue of humanism and post humanism as a site of concerted challenge and intervention; and finally, the interview turns to Halberstam's thoughts on an often overlooked area of sexualities--the relationship between queer theory and postcoloniality. Halberstam's responses are located amid what she sees as an era of new experimentalism. This era of experimentalism is perhaps an era where transgenderism acts as some kind of reorganizing of gender norms in which gender differences instantiate themselves as the baseline from which gender-sex-sexualities are understood and experienced. It is an argument positioned beyond binaries where multiple bodily aesthetics and practices collude and collide in the practice of displacing of singularity and authenticity. (Contains 2 notes.)

Interviews with 10 young men ages 15-20 explored why they voluntarily participate in gender equity activities. The influences of teachers, family, and peers in shaping gender consciousness enabled them to recognize male privilege. Ways to give males tools to understand gender relations are recommended. (Contains 27 references.) (SK)

Examined the commonly expressed ambition of African Canadian male youth to win athletic scholarships to U.S. universities, noting why they believed it was possible to realize these aspirations. Data from conversations with African Canadian male high school basketball players indicated that students used strategies, such as attending the right schools, endeavoring to play on winning teams, and seeking exposure to college and university coaches to ensure their success. (SM)

Investigated the relationship between gender and gender role of students and their "best" university professors. Surveys of Canadian college students indicated that there was a strong relationship between students' gender and gender role and the gender and perceived gender role of their best instructors. Masculinity was valued more by older, part-time students with greater work experience. (SM)

The seven articles in this theme issue address issues of masculinity in a Canadian context. The issue opens with a discussion of the complexity of gender issues, presents a theoretical framework and four case studies, and pulls together the literature as it points out contradictions. The focus throughout is on how boys and men negotiate masculine identities in schools and other social situations. (SLD)